IN YOUR OPINION

Letters to the Editor for Feb. 7, 2013

Published: Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 10:51 p.m.

Assault weapons

Proponents of gun enthusiasts, like the NRA, say they have the right to own assault weapons in case of government invasions or tyrannies. But paranoid, hypothetical scenarios cannot take precedence over the very real, very preventable deaths of children.

Adding to its deadly efficiency is the large capacity magazine. A gunman can easily empty a 60-round magazine in less than 20 seconds. Sixty bullets. Twenty seconds. Those little kids and teachers at Sandy Hook didn’t have a chance.

Proponents say they have the right to own these guns for hunting, but assault rifles are designed specifically to kill people, not animals. Hunters don’t use these weapons, but every military in the world does.

They would have you believe that more guns provide more chances for people to defend themselves. So should everyone be armed to the hilt in schools, churches, at social gatherings? Where does this logic end?

Assault weapons do not belong in civilian hands, nor do clips that contain more than 10 rounds. If you can’t defend home and family with a pistol, you won’t with a more complex weapon. These weapons, specifically, are used in almost every mass-shooting tragedy. Dangerous individuals are instantly enabled to cause devastating numbers of casualties in a matter of seconds. The desperate justifications of gun enthusiasts deteriorate more with each tragedy.

All gun sales or transfer of ownership must be handled by a registered gun dealer with the appropriate background check and waiting period. There should be no exceptions. All ammo clips must be limited to 10 rounds. The increased safety for all Americans demands it.

It is way past time for reasonable people to expect a sane policy.

Anything less is an act of selfishness so profound that it is an act of immorality.

Lee Wiggins

Ocala

Road kill overkill

Ever seen a fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink raccoon in nature? Me, neither. Then why do I keep seeing dead ones spray painted on the side of State Road 40 heading east? Does Marion County think it’s effectively using our tax dollars to spray paint dead animals? Is this a new benefit to Marion County residents? “Watch out, there’s a dead raccoon here!”

What I’ve been able to ascertain is that someone is being paid to spray paint the animals so that someone else can come by and scrape it up. Why doesn’t the guy with the spray paint just scrape it up? What’s wrong with the vision of the guy with the shovel? Does it really take two people to see and remove a dead raccoon?

Imagine all the money Marion County could save if the guy with the paint actually picked up the road kill instead of painting it for someone else. Fancy that!

Jeanelle Wellhoner

Silver Springs

Education gone awry

After reading the letters Monday, Feb. 4, I came to realize that I wasted thousands of dollars on college Civics 101 and Government 101. Under the influence of some left-leaning professors, I was lied to.

I was told that our great nation was governed by laws that followed our Constitution. I know, now, that I should have listened to Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Ann Coulter instead.

Imagine my surprise when I was informed that our anti-Christian president has the power to mandate that our women must go into combat now.

He is also responsible for the Boy Scouts discussing letting gays join.

Then the most astonishing bit of information that I got was that it was hinted that the president was involved in the Roe v. Wade decision. He must be really powerful. This decision was made while he was a mere child.

A couple of letters later I learned that he was going to charge every man, woman and child $13,000 a year for Obamacare — on his own, no less!

And, to top off my education for the day, I learned that all of the media is liberal and that was how we got into the mess that we are in the first place.

Wow! I could have paid for a lifetime subscription for the Star-Banner and I wouldn’t have been brainwashed by studying our Constitution, the functions of our Senate and House of Representatives, or the functions of the three branches of our government. That is really mind-bending!

Thomas Hapner

Fort McCoy

Welcome to our pigpen

I, for one, think maybe the Ocala welcome sign may be a good idea. However, once a visitor or potential business investor or homeowner exits off I-75, that is when reality sets in.

One only has to look at the overgrown edges of the exit ramps, the trash along sides of the exit ramps. Does not matter if one exits at County Road 484, State Road 200, State Road 40 or U.S. 27, the overgrown grass and shrubs and trash is enough to make the driver proceed up the entrance ramp to get back to I-75.

Our community leaders keep talking about beautiful Marion County and the City of Ocala. But when you look at the rundown service stations and overgrown closed business lots, like the old Bennigans on SR 200, you have to wonder if they ever leave downtown. Why does the code enforcement departments of both the city and county not make business and landowners keep up their lots and businesses? Why are we not landscaping these exits and picking up the trash? Or are we inviting these guests into our pigpen?

<p><b>Assault weapons</b></p><p>Proponents of gun enthusiasts, like the NRA, say they have the right to own assault weapons in case of government invasions or tyrannies. But paranoid, hypothetical scenarios cannot take precedence over the very real, very preventable deaths of children.</p><p>Adding to its deadly efficiency is the large capacity magazine. A gunman can easily empty a 60-round magazine in less than 20 seconds. Sixty bullets. Twenty seconds. Those little kids and teachers at Sandy Hook didn't have a chance.</p><p>Proponents say they have the right to own these guns for hunting, but assault rifles are designed specifically to kill people, not animals. Hunters don't use these weapons, but every military in the world does.</p><p>They would have you believe that more guns provide more chances for people to defend themselves. So should everyone be armed to the hilt in schools, churches, at social gatherings? Where does this logic end?</p><p>Assault weapons do not belong in civilian hands, nor do clips that contain more than 10 rounds. If you can't defend home and family with a pistol, you won't with a more complex weapon. These weapons, specifically, are used in almost every mass-shooting tragedy. Dangerous individuals are instantly enabled to cause devastating numbers of casualties in a matter of seconds. The desperate justifications of gun enthusiasts deteriorate more with each tragedy.</p><p>All gun sales or transfer of ownership must be handled by a registered gun dealer with the appropriate background check and waiting period. There should be no exceptions. All ammo clips must be limited to 10 rounds. The increased safety for all Americans demands it.</p><p>It is way past time for reasonable people to expect a sane policy.</p><p>Anything less is an act of selfishness so profound that it is an act of immorality.</p><p><i>Lee Wiggins</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p> </p><p><b>Road kill overkill</b></p><p>Ever seen a fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink raccoon in nature? Me, neither. Then why do I keep seeing dead ones spray painted on the side of State Road 40 heading east? Does Marion County think it's effectively using our tax dollars to spray paint dead animals? Is this a new benefit to Marion County residents? “Watch out, there's a dead raccoon here!”</p><p>What I've been able to ascertain is that someone is being paid to spray paint the animals so that someone else can come by and scrape it up. Why doesn't the guy with the spray paint just scrape it up? What's wrong with the vision of the guy with the shovel? Does it really take two people to see and remove a dead raccoon?</p><p>Imagine all the money Marion County could save if the guy with the paint actually picked up the road kill instead of painting it for someone else. Fancy that!</p><p><i>Jeanelle Wellhoner</p><p>Silver Springs</i></p><p> </p><p><b>Education gone awry</b></p><p>After reading the letters Monday, Feb. 4, I came to realize that I wasted thousands of dollars on college Civics 101 and Government 101. Under the influence of some left-leaning professors, I was lied to.</p><p>I was told that our great nation was governed by laws that followed our Constitution. I know, now, that I should have listened to Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Ann Coulter instead.</p><p>Imagine my surprise when I was informed that our anti-Christian president has the power to mandate that our women must go into combat now.</p><p>He is also responsible for the Boy Scouts discussing letting gays join.</p><p>Then the most astonishing bit of information that I got was that it was hinted that the president was involved in the Roe v. Wade decision. He must be really powerful. This decision was made while he was a mere child.</p><p>A couple of letters later I learned that he was going to charge every man, woman and child $13,000 a year for Obamacare — on his own, no less!</p><p>And, to top off my education for the day, I learned that all of the media is liberal and that was how we got into the mess that we are in the first place.</p><p>Wow! I could have paid for a lifetime subscription for the Star-Banner and I wouldn't have been brainwashed by studying our Constitution, the functions of our Senate and House of Representatives, or the functions of the three branches of our government. That is really mind-bending!</p><p><i>Thomas Hapner</p><p>Fort McCoy</i></p><p> </p><p><b>Welcome to our pigpen</b></p><p>I, for one, think maybe the Ocala welcome sign may be a good idea. However, once a visitor or potential business investor or homeowner exits off I-75, that is when reality sets in.</p><p>One only has to look at the overgrown edges of the exit ramps, the trash along sides of the exit ramps. Does not matter if one exits at County Road 484, State Road 200, State Road 40 or U.S. 27, the overgrown grass and shrubs and trash is enough to make the driver proceed up the entrance ramp to get back to I-75.</p><p>Our community leaders keep talking about beautiful Marion County and the City of Ocala. But when you look at the rundown service stations and overgrown closed business lots, like the old Bennigans on SR 200, you have to wonder if they ever leave downtown. Why does the code enforcement departments of both the city and county not make business and landowners keep up their lots and businesses? Why are we not landscaping these exits and picking up the trash? Or are we inviting these guests into our pigpen?</p><p><i>Michael Scruggs</p><p>Ocala</i></p>